The Urban Species: How Domesticated Humans Evolved

Modern humans are building megacities – and networks of megacities – at an unprecedented scale. Annalee Newitz compares today’s urbanization phenonmenon to that of the Neolithic period roughly 9,000 years ago, when humans first began living in sedentary communities. That shift prompted massive social, biological, and technological changes, creating the first “domesticated” humans. Using history as a guide, Newitz explores the evolutionary upheaval that modern humans may have set in motion, and what it might mean for us as a civilization.

Annalee Newitz is the technology culture editor at Ars Technica. She holds a PhD in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley. Her most recent book is "Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction".

AuthorsAnnalee Newitz

Modern humans are building megacities — and networks of megacities — at an unprecedented scale. Annalee Newitz compares today’s urbanization phenonmenon to that of the Neolithic period roughly 9,000 years ago, when humans first began living in sedentary communities. That shift prompted massive social, biological, and technological changes, creating the first “domesticated” humans. Using history as a guide, Newitz explores the evolutionary upheaval that modern humans may have set in motion, and what it might mean for us as a civilization.

Annalee Newitz is the technology culture editor at Ars Technica. She holds a PhD in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley. Her most recent book is Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction.

Generous underwriting from Thornburg Investment Management, with additional support from The Lensic Performing Arts Center, makes this series possible.